How to Build Your Own Symbol Vocabulary

Lately, I’ve been working with raccoon medicine.

It all started on vacation in Florida when I was taking a walk on Jensen Island and a limping racoon came out of the mangroves and was walking straight for me. My immediate reaction was to yell at it as I would with any feral animal that is walking toward me without hesitation. The raccoon simply looked up at me as if to say, “Oh, I didn’t see you there,” and wandered back into the trees.

Soon after that, raccoons kept showing up for me, in conversation, on television, in pictures, they seemed to be everywhere. Raccoons are not ubiquitous in New Mexico like prairie dogs or skunks, so I hadn’t thought about the nocturnal creatures in a long time. Suddenly, they were everywhere. I knew this was a sign that needed examination. But I didn’t have raccoon in my symbol vocabulary already.

Your symbol vocabulary is all the images in the material realm that you have corresponding spiritual or archetypal meanings for. Some are probably so ingrained in you that you don’t even realize it, like every time you see a spider indoors you help it escape and make a wish. They may appear as superstitions you’ve practiced since childhood or ideas you’ve picked up from your oracle deck. They could be based on facts you learned in 8^th grade Biology.

And for everyone it’s different. For some, snakes represent the goddess because they read Stone Merlin’s When God Was a Woman. For others, snakes represent transformation because they shed their skin. For a doctor, they might represent healing because they appear on the caduceus. Others just hate snakes.

I don’t believe in someone else telling you what something means. I believe in you determining what it means for you. You can use outside input to gather information and form your ideas, of course, but in the end, you have to own it completely.

If hawks started showing up in my dreams or I started sighting them everywhere I went, I would know what that meant. A spider bite, a hummingbird buzzing by my head at the perfect moment, a bear in my path—these are all symbols I have already collected meanings for. But nothing for raccoon. I had to dig deeper.

I read from various books and animal decks to start. Then I saw a dead raccoon in the road while driving through the canyon. As I mentioned, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a raccoon in New Mexico since I moved here in 2005. I reached out to my teacher to see if she could give me some more ideas as well.

Raccoons are mischievous bandits. Am I hiding something? Have I been robbed of something? They are crafty and talented at what they do. Are there gifts I am hiding? I journaled on all the possible messages raccoon medicine could have for me, hoping to get to the source. While doing so, I recalled how when I was a child growing up in New York, my dog, Farfel, used to get into fights with raccoons who ventured into our yard at night. I was instructed to stay inside while I listened to the ferocious sounds, and we waited for animal control to arrive. The whole time I worried about my dog. Then once the raccoon was gone, I wondered what would become of it, if they would take care of it or find it a good home. Raccoons might represent for me personally unseen troubles, reaching out for help, and concern for others.

Yesterday, while shopping for a friend’s birthday gift, I saw a raccoon t-shirt. It said, “This is garbage.” I almost bought it.

As I continue to compost the deeper meaning of this sign in my life at the moment, I will eventually add raccoon to my symbol vocabulary so that next time it appears for me or a friend, I will have a deeper understanding of what it means for me and how it can help me.

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